Knife



' Nov. 4, 1941. w METZ 2,261,267

' KNIFE 7 Filed April 24, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVEN TOR.

W. H. METZ Nov. 4, 1941.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 KNIFE 'Filed April 24, 1941 IN V EN TOR.

Mame-22 Patented Nov. 4, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE William H. Metz,Mc Cracken, Kans- Application April 24, 1941, Serial No. 390,193

4 Claims. (Cl. 30-160) This invention relates to a knife, one of the objects being to provide a device of this character the blade of which is adapted normally to be housed, within the handle, means being employed whereby, when a blade-restraining means is released, the handle will open and the blade swing outwardly into operative position.

A further object is to provide a shield which serves as a part of the handle and constitutes a blade-retaining element whereby the blade is held normally housed, simple and eflicient means being provided for holding the shield against closed position.

A still further object is to providea means by which the blade, when swung outwardly to active position, will be locked automatically, the shield being returnable to normal position on the handle so .as to provide an eflicient grip for the user of the knife.

A still further object is to provide a device of this character which is simple and compact in construction and can be manipulated readily.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists of certain novel details of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the claims, it being understood that changes may be made in the construction and arrangement'of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed.

In the accompanying drawings the preferred form of the invention has been shown.

In said drawings Figure 1 is an elevation showing one side of the knife with the blade extended to active position.

Figure 2 is. an elevation showing the opposite side of the knife, the releasing lever having a portion broken away and being shown, by broken lines, in blade-releasing position.

Figure 3 is a back view of the knife with the parts positioned as in Figures 1 and 2, a portion of the handle being broken away to show the blade unlocking lever.

Figure 4 is a section on line 44, Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 4. but showing the blade in housed position.

Figure 6 is a section on line 6--6, Figure 5.

Figure '7 is a section on line 'II, Figure 5.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference, I designates the back of the handle which is preferably formed of a strip of slightly resilient material reduced in width at one end to provide a locking tongue 2 provided with an angular recess 3 in one edge whereby there is formed an angular locking lug 4 projecting from the free end of the tongue.

The other end of the back I has a reverse bend which merges into parallel arms 5 which are any other suitable holding means.

spaced from and are substantially parallel with the back, thesearms being connected, adjacent to theirfree ends, by a pivot pin 6 on which is pivotally mounteda fiat faced cam 8 constituting an extension of the butt end 9 of the knife blade Ill. 1

' A notch ,II is formed in the edge of the cam and is so located and shaped that, when the blade is moved to extended or open position, this notch will receive the angular lug 4 which, during the opening of the blade, has been depressed by the face of the cam until the recess II has been brought into register withthe lug, as in Figure 4. Obviously when the lug is in recess II, the adjacent or depressing portion of the cam is projected into the recess 3. Consequently the blade is thuslocked securely in extended position-and cannot be released so as to swing into the handle as hereinafter explained, unless the tongue 2 is first shifted so as to withdraw the'lug 4 from 1 recess I I.

The fingers 5 are provided, at their free ends, with wings I2 which extend to opposite sides of the tongue 2, the pivot pin 6 being seated at its ends in these wings. The wings also provide bearings for a rotatable pin I3 which carries a releasing cam I4. .An operating lever I5 is secured to this pin for the purpose of rotating it and is normally extended substantially parallel with and close to one side of the back I so that one edge portion of the lever can be seated in a groove I 6 in one side of the handle or can engage Lever I5 is of resilient material and is normally pressed back in the groove. When it is desired to unlock the blade III, however,'the lever I5 can readily be pressed laterally out of the groove and can then be swung substantiallyto the position shown by broken lines in Figure 2 so as to rotate the releasing cam I4 and move it against tongue 2, causing this tongue to shift out of normal position and withdraw the lug 4 from the recess II. Obviously this releases the blade I0 so that it can be swung on its pivot 6. l

A- guard plate I1 straddles the back I and is secured :to the outer sides of the wings I 2. A clearance is provided between this guard plate and the tongue 2, as shown at I8, to allow the tongue to move out of normal position. The plate isalso provided with a slot I9 which is adapted to receive the open end of a shield 20 the other, or closed end of which is pivotally connected, as at 2|, to an ear 22 projecting from one end of the back I. This shield has a spring 23 attached thereto, the spring having a free end 24 adjacent to but spaced from the ear 22 and so located that when the shield 20 is swung abruptly to an open position, this end 24 of the spring will come against the end of the back I two fingers 5 and will be held in such position by snapping the latch head 26 over the rear edge.

of the adjacent finger, this latch head, during this operation, serving to press the adjacent arm of lever 21 inwardly while the oppositearm 29 will be moved outwardly beyond the side of the handle. This releasing lever 21 is pivotally connected, as at 28 to the outer side of one of the 'fingers 5.

The shield 26 carries a spring 30 fastened at one end to the inside of the shield and normally bearing at its other end on the fingers 5. This spring is under tension when the shield is closed against the fingers but when the shield is released, as by pressing arm 29 of lever 21 inwardly, thereby pushing the head 26 from under the adjacent finger 5, the shield will swing abruptly to open position about its pivot 2| until brought to a yielding stop by the spring 23.

A spring strip 32 bears at one end against the back i and is located between said back and the fingers 5. This spring has a movable end 40 adapted to be depressed by the butt 9 of blade H] when the blade is moved into closed position.

In Figure 5 the knife has been shown folded so that it can be conveniently carried without danger of injury. When it is desired to open the knife the user depresses the arm 29 of lever 21 while grasping the knife at the sides and leaving an unobstructed space for the movement of the shield 20. This movement of lever 21 will cause the head 26 of latch 25 to move outwardly from under the engaged finger 5 and as soon as it is thus released, the spring 30 will operate to swing shield 20 about its pivot 2 I, this movement being accelerated by the restrained or tensioned spring 30 which, at the same time, swings the blade outwardly from between the fingers 5. This outward movement of the blade will be such as to cause cam 8 to depress or shift tongue 2 until the lug 4 becomes seated in angular recess ll. Thus the blade will be locked in extended position as shown in Figures 1 to 4 inclusive. Thereafter the shield is pressed back to normal position so that its latch will again snap into engagement with the adjacent finger 5, thus forming a part of the handle by which the blade can be manipulated.

When it is desired to close the knife the lever l5is shifted to the position shown by broken lines in Figure 2 so as to cause the cam l2 to press against tongue 2 and shift the tongue to withdraw lug 4 from recess 8. The blade can then be swung freely on its pivot 6 toward the shield 20. The shield is released by depressing lever arm 29 to push the latch out of engagement with the adjacent finger 5. With the shield in open position, the point portion of the knife is brought between the shield and the fingers 5 after which the shield is pressed toward the fingers, causing the knife to move against the action of spring 32, placing said spring under tension. This operation is continued until the latch head 26 again engages under the adjacent finger 5 whereupon the parts are locked in the positions shown in Figure 5 and the operation heretofore described can be repeated.

It will be noted that when the blade is housed it is positioned between the two fingers 5.

What is claimed is:

1. A knife including a handle back, a resilient tongue at one end thereof, the other end having a return bend, spaced fingers extending from said other end of the back and having end portions lapping the sides of the tongue, a sprin on the .back and adjacent to the fingers, a blade pivotally connected to the fingers, cooperating means on the blade and tongue for locking the blade in one extreme position, said blade, when unlocked, constituting means for engaging and tensioning the spring, a shield movably connected to the back, and positioned to engage the blade and hold it in spring tensioning position, and means for fastening the shield in blade engaging position.

2. A knife including a handle back, a resilient tongue at one end thereof, the other end having a return bend, spaced fingers extending from said other end of the back and having end portions lapping the sides of the tongue, a spring on the back and adjacent to the fingers, a blade pivotally connected to the fingers, cooperating means on the blade and tongue for locking the blade in one extreme position, said blade, when unlocked, constituting means for engaging and tensioning the spring, a shield movably connected to the back, and positioned to engage the blade and hold it in spring tensioning position, means for fastening the shield in blade engaging position, and means for releasing the shield, said tensioned spring constituting means for shifting the blade and the released shield to free the blade from restraint and move the blade into locked engagement with the tongue.

3. A knife including a handle back, a resilient tongue at one end thereof, the other end having a return bend, spaced fingers extending from said other end of the back and having end portions lapping the sides of the tongue, a spring on the back and adjacent to the fingers, a blade pivotally connected to the fingers, cooperating means on the blade and tongue for locking the blade in one extreme position, said blade, when unlocked, constituting means for engaging and tensioning the spring, a shield movably connected to the back, and positioned to engage the blade and hold it in spring tensioning position, means for fastening the shield in blade engaging position, and means for releasing the shield, said tensioned spring constituting means for shifting the blade and the released shield to free the blade from restraint and move the blade into locked engagement with the tongue, and movable means on one side of the back for shifting the tongue to unlock the blade.

4. A knife including a handle back, a resilient tongue at one end thereof, the other end having a return bend, spaced fingers extending from said other end of the back and having end portions lapping the sides of the tongue, a spring on the back and adjacent to the fingers, a blade pivotally connected to the fingers, cooperating means on the blade and tongue for locking the blade in one extreme position, said blade, when unlocked, constituting means for engaging and tensioning the spring, a shield movably connected to the back, and positioned to engage the blade and hold it in spring tensioning position, a latch on the shield for engagement with one of the fingers to hold the shield in blade engaging position, means for releasing the latch to free the shield, and a spring for shifting the shield relative to the fingers when released.

WILLIAM H. METZ. 

